May/June 2017

Thank you to all of you who made donations and those who participated in the studio’s Butter Braid fundraiser. This event helps to cover the many costs of presenting our recital at the beautiful Topeka Performing Arts Center. Remember, you may invite as many friends and relatives as you would like to see our final performance of the 2016-2017 season.

I would like to congratulate our 2017 college graduates (both studio teachers), Christina Foreman and Maddison Williams. We are so proud of all their accomplishments. Hopefully they will both still be at the studio next year!

Please remember to arrive early and park in the lots to our east at all of our upcoming recital rehearsals. We have still been unable to purchase the lot west of the studio and the owner will tow cars parked in her lot. If your rehearsals on Saturday are scheduled before Peerless Tires closes, please park at Gage Bowl. Thank you for your cooperation; we are very sorry for this inconvenience.

Costumes for the recital will be handed out in classes starting May 8th. I hope this won’t inconvenience any of you, but we need to get them out before the second recital rehearsal. Please make sure you wait to open any bags until you get home so no pieces of the costume(s) are lost. A gentle reminder, if your final balance has not yet been paid, the costume will be held in the office until payment is made. We really do not like having to tell a child that they need to have their parents see the office administrator before he or she can receive their costume.

I would like to thank all of you for making this “retirement year” so special for me. I am very grateful for all the cards, celebrations, and well-wishes. This year has exceeded all my expectations. Fifty years of teaching dance has been a blessing to me and has passed so quickly. The fond memories will always be with me, and I am so excited to see Lacee continue my legacy and build one of her own. She is so ready and tremendously qualified to take over the studio and Ballet Midwest. (She has even graciously asked me to continue teaching classes on Thursday and Friday evenings.)

I will still be involved in both the studio and the company so this is not a final farewell. It has been wonderful making this transition with Lacee by my side. I have no doubt that she will take the studio and the company on to greater heights in the coming years.